Sons keeper failed to spook Tidser at spot-kick

Michael Tidser told how he kept his nerve to score from the spot despite former Ross County team-mate Mark Brown’s attempts to play mind games as he prepared to take his penalty.

Midfielder Tidser made no mistake from 12 yards, rifling an emphatic effort low past goalkeeper Brown to give Morton a 2-0 lead against Dumbarton.

Afterwards he revealed that the Sons shot-stopper attempted to psyche him out by suggesting he knew exactly where he would go due to their time together in the Highlands, although it later turned out to be a bluff on his pal’s part.

Speaking exclusively to gmfc.net, Tidser said: “He [Brown] tried to spook me at the penalty. ‘You still hitting them the same way at County, Tids,’ he said. I said: ‘Aye, just down there.’

“It’s that I played with him at Ross County. He’s a good lad and helped me settle in when I moved up to Ross County. I got on great with him.

“As soon as we got the penalty, he came straight over to me and said to me about hitting the same way and I said were I actually put it. The two of us were double bluffing each other.

“Thankfully I’ve struck it well. I caught it too sweet for him and a wee touch to the right. And after the game Broony admitted he didn’t have a clue where I was putting it.

“I was always confident I was going to score; you’ve got to be. The gaffer said to me before the game that if we got a penalty I was on it.

“So as soon as I saw John Beaton pointing to the spot I grabbed the ball. A few of their other boys tried to put me off, but I had no issues with that and it was good to get the winning goal I suppose.

“It was difficult and we knew that playing against them through the years. We knew it would be tough and our squad had changed from last week

“We were a bit light but it was chance for other boys to come in and work hard and try and get the three points, and thankfully we did it and got the win to keep us up there.”

Image: David Bell